I considered careers like social work, mental health counseling, and paralegal studies. But by the time a person, a client, is seeking counsel or help in a social work setting, or in a clinical practice, or with legal problems—things have clearly gone south for them, in some way. They’re not in the best place, whether financially, mentally, or legally.
And so I didn’t really wanna help people with these more-serious problems. These are actual conundrums that need solving, or simply coping with. It’s a fight to get out of these situations, or to at least cope with them if there’s no real solution. For some reason, I wasn’t as inclined towards this type of work, as much as I was inclined towards teaching and education. Education is the light out of the darkness, in many ways. And don’t get me wrong; everyone falls on hard times—whether life problems, mental health issues, or legal issues. And so we’ll always need social workers, clinical therapists, and lawyers, and so on. But falling on hard times should be the exception in a person’s life, and not the general rule. And it’s not a good place to be in. And so thank goodness that we have professionals who are there in the trenches, always ready to help with these personal and social issues.
I think if everyone simply knew how to live life—how to live a good, meaningful life; how to stay out of trouble; and how to achieve success and victory; a happy, meaningful life; then we’d all be doing much better. We’d have something to live for; we’d be doing alright. And so I think education really is the key to avoiding many of life’s problems. It’s a catalyst, it helps you know what to do and what not to do, in your life. And I don’t necessarily mean formal schooling or advanced degrees in anything; I just simply mean the act of learning, and the process of acquiring knowledge and expanding one’s understanding. Whether spiritually, emotionally, sociologically, or otherwise. If I know how to take care of myself; how to manage my health; how to manage my financial matters; how to achieve success; how to treat other people; and etc.–then the chances for self-destruction shrink considerably.
And I’m actually the type of person that simply didn’t know much about life and how to live it. I didn’t know too much about how to go about picking a career; or how to achieve success in life. And I didn’t know extremely well about road safety/driver’s education; and the vitalness of oral health/dental hygiene; and the importance of understanding basic mathematics and directional skills. And also; how to grocery shop on a regular basis, way before you run out of food in the kitchen…so that you don’t have to deal with a bare kitchen, and stuff. I just didn’t know. No one is born with most of this knowledge, it’s not immediately obvious.
And so an ounce of prevention is always worth more than a pound of cure. It’s alway better to avoid falling into a deep ditch than in asking for help in getting out. If you know how to not fall in them, that’s way better than being stuck in there. And it’s better than having to ask for help in getting out. And you know, may god be with the broken, the troubled, and the confused, in life; the downtrodden. May he shower them in his love.
| Also; school should be a safe place to learn and be around other people. It’s a place where you can (should?) forget about your problems, troubled home life, and difficulties, for a little while. The focus is on math, literacy, history, science, arts, foreign languages, and etc. And so it should be a happy, positive environment, for the most part. And that’s partly what drew me to teaching; the positive, academic vibe of it. Social work and mental health counseling would have been awesome too, but it’s hard hearing about people’s hardships and difficult stories.
The only, only thing I’m nervous about with teaching is that schools can be painful and discouraging environments, sometimes. There are a lot of different personalities that you have to deal with, and there may well be rudeness, bullying, and hostility. And I think this is the #1 reason why people feel nervous about going into teaching. And it is the #1 complaint for current teachers, actually; problem behaviors.
Obviously, I myself wanna teach in alternative and underserved schools, and in ABE/GED programs, and etc. And it might well be a challenge, in some ways. I’m not very tough or confident; I’m gentle and timid. And so my main task is to learn how to manage problem behaviors. I chose to go into teaching, and so I have to deliver and give it my best effort.
I don’t know if there are tons of black teachers and black, female teachers in schools these days. I don’t know the demographics of the profession. But I don’t expect to meet a lot of other black, female teachers in the schools I will work in. We are a minority in this country, after all.
I’m honestly scared of the problem behaviors I might encounter in teaching. I’ve seen problem behaviors before; I know a little bit about it. Hostility; gangs; negative attitudes about life and our existence on earth; callousness; racial prejudice; and etc. etc. And these might be very extreme things I listed here; but they do happen sometimes.
And these social problems can be even worse amongst females. It’s not just a male problem; women can be just as troubled. You know how we have angelic scribes writing down our deeds and our conscious behavioral choices, according to religions? Well, females can be just as disturbed, sometimes. It’s all really sad, these personal and social issues. But we have to keep persevering, day by day. Alhamdulillah ‘ala kulu hal, praise be to god in every single circumstance.
I’m not going to teach in elite private schools. Those types of kids are already on the road to success and self-actualization. I’ll teach in alternative and underserved schools, and in poorer areas. These are the youths we really need to serve and guide onto the right path.
| And regarding my considering mental health counseling for my career; I think I dodged a bullet, here. I mean, if someone comes to a licensed mental health counselor or a licensed therapist, and presents with some type of symptom, then this is likely an actual medical/psychological condition. It’s a symptom that needs proper treatment—talk therapy, ongoing session work, and etc. The whole thing is too medical-ly for me, it’s too clinical. I don’t really see myself as a clinical counselor of any kind. And this is despite my own schizophrenia diagnosis, and my familiarity with mental health problems, and with the in-patient and out-patient care system. I see a psychiatrist myself regularly, and take meds, and etc.
Same thing with social work, and paralegal work. People will present with very specific cases and problems. You have to know how to help them. Maybe my thing, my vibe, is that I’m actually an author and visual artist at heart. And so I might as well teach while I work on my books and artwork, on the side. (I can teach language arts, ESL, and visual arts.) Everything else—all the other career options before me—seem really “involved,” somehow. It’s way too “up-there”; it’s too big of a career. I’m not interested in or invested in any of it. I mean, it can possibly be lots of money and lots of prestige. But I’m just a writer and visual artist, at heart; that’s literally it. That’s the whole thing.I might as well share the joy of it with other people, I might as well teach.
If it makes me feel better//puts my mind at rest; I had sort of narrowed my options down to either teaching, or mental health counseling/mental health therapy. I’m glad I chose teaching; I think it suits me better. There’s room for a lot of creativity, creative writing, visual arts, collaboration, music, literary arts, knowledge acquisition, and friendship-forming, within teaching. Clinical care would have been wonderful, too; but I feel a stronger calling for teaching.
And teaching is more grassroots-oriented and socially powerful, I think. “It takes a whole village to raise a child,” and so on. Whereas therapy is more clinical. Think “psychology” whenever you think of mental health therapy. You probably have to know something about psychology and best counseling practices. | I myself can be rather introverted and socially anxious sometimes. I don’t know if I’ll fit in all that well in the schools I will work in. But I think there’s a place for introverted teachers; there’s a place for gentle and softer teaching. I can find a place for myself within this field.
Literature/creative writing, and sharing the joy of it, is my main passion, I think. It probably means more to me than mental health support and clinical support. Right now I’m actually working on a poetry collection. And I plan to share classic and contemporary poetry with my English lit students and my ESL students. I think we’ll have really good discussions about it.
I like Sylvia Plath, and Langston Hughes. I think literature and poetry is what you make of it; it’s the experiences you have with it, and the life lessons you draw from it. -Maybe I can do volunteer tutoring, mentorship, literary magazine/anthology publications, and creative writing workshops, in addition to my main role as a classroom teacher. This will help make my efforts more well-rounded, impactful, and meaningful.
And I recently applied to a master’s of arts in teaching with a college called Mary Baldwin University. And I am accepted, for the most part. I just have to earn high enough grades in my first few credit hours, and then I’ll be fully admitted in as a regular student. | I’m currently enrolled in MBU’s master’s of arts in teaching English to speakers of other languages. I plan to earn endorsements in both TESOL and English language arts. After I graduate, I’ll be licensed to teach English as a second language and English language arts in Virginia and in neighboring states. And I also plan to gain proficiency in Arabic and Spanish so that I can comprehend/utilize both languages fluently. I’m currently at mid-fluency in Arabic, I think; and I know a few words of Spanish.
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And you know, you make enough money as a teacher and as a single individual with no dependents. Having to support a family on a teacher’s salary is another story, though. And that’s where nonprofit organizations and public redistribution of wealth comes in, I think. I’m not sure it’s realistic to pay all teachers very much, especially since you don’t need beyond a bachelor’s degree for the career. You can earn additional credentials and move up the ladder, and make more money that way. *But you know, these are exactly the situations where redistribution of wealth comes in, I think. The increase in teachers’ salaries should come from taxing the very top 1% or 10%, or something. But you know, I don’t know if we should tax ordinary people more in order for teachers to make more money…That doesn’t sit right with me, personally… And I doubt that reducing the administrators’ salaries in order to pay the teachers more, is a very good idea either. Most teachers aren’t pHd holders, or anything. Most of the administrators actually have advanced degrees and years of experience, I think. And why get a pHd if I’m only gonna make $60,000 a year, or whatever? There’s little point in seeking higher positions if the pay sucks. You see, equalizing the wealth, doesn’t work. And you know, I personally want people to reach for the moon. I don’t want anybody to take a huge pay cut (or any pay cut) so that I can have more money in my account…
And so the different salaries and whatever, is a part of life, for the most part. **It actually makes more sense to tax the richest Americans and then give that to the teachers, and to the various employees of all the institutions and businesses in America. This makes more sense to me than cutting admin. salaries, or raising taxes on the middle class. It really does look like the richest 1% have a lot of money; and they could probably pay a bit more so that other people can have more. But I really don’t know what’s fair, or whatever. If you do way more and are advanced in your experience, education, and skills–then you should earn way more, I think. *And once you’re stable and strong, you can then give back to your community in so many different ways. That’s the beauty of life. And so I’m a supporter of a mixed economic system, I think–a system that takes the best of capitalism and socialism/social welfare. Individual responsibility and achievement is first and foremost; this must be encouraged and celebrated. Personal responsibility, success, and achievement. A culture of success, faith, belief in oneself, family obligations, acceptance of our responsibilities in life, a can-do/will-do attitude, and high expectations, great expectations. This is our main line of defense, in society; it’s the main defense against poverty, crime, economic deterioration, and moral decay. And a simultaneous duty, is of course collective concern and social responsibility–our responsibility to the less fortunate, the marginalized, and etc.
Our main line of defense is being responsible enough to not fall into those problems. And; there are always targeted measures to alleviate/solve these social problems that affect so many people. There is institutional support in solving these problems. Government help; nonprofit sector work (many nonprofits do really good work in these areas, they’re doing the work); and private sector support. The private sector has been very active for years, I think, in facilitating job training programs, workforce development efforts, and in partnering with schools and community organizations to better their local communities. -I think life is about individual effort and collective responsibility. There shouldn’t be a clash or struggle between these two principles, they’re both very important.
| Alhamdulillah, may Allah swt give everyone their hopes and dreams. And let’s not be sad, it’s not our fault. I think Jalal al-din Rumi said in one of his poems; “My life is in shambles, with God’s light shining on the ruins.” You have to do the best you can with what god gave you. And there’s no excuse to completely give up, I think. And there’s no excuse for callousness, cruelty, evil deeds, persecution, etc. That’s my pet peeve, to be honest; persecution of others. If you can’t be nice to them, just leave them alone. Subhan Allah, I just don’t get it. Persecution, bullying, etc. Never got it. | And god didn’t create this life in vain; it’s all part of his divine plan. And he is the ultimate deliverer of justice and redemption, actually, in all his wisdom and compassion.
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